SPECIAL REPORT: Worcester's Robin Walker "hugely excited" after becoming Brexit minister as FOUR county MPs join Government

WORCESTER'S MP has been appointed to the Government by Prime Minister Theresa May - helping deliver Brexit.

A dramatic weekend has seen the new PM continue her reshuffle which has ended in FOUR Worcestershire MPs taking up key roles in defence, international trade, local government and the march out of the EU.

It leaves the county's MPs in their strongest positions since Stanley Baldwin was Prime Minister in the 1930s, with city MP Robin Walker the biggest winner today.

Mr Walker has become a junior minister in the brand new 'Brexit department' ran by Eurosceptic Tory David Davis.

It is Mr Walker's first ministerial appointment since he was first elected in 2010, and he told the Worcester News he couldn't wait to get started.

The Conservative did back Remain during the referendum, but has consistently held Eurosceptic views and will work alongside Brexiteer and Welsh MP David Jones in the department.

"It's very exciting and a challenge I'm hugely looking forward to," he said today.

"This department is brand new and will be putting in the very best civil servants from across Whitehall, given how important this is.

"I've always supported having a referendum, and we now need to make sure we get the best possible deal from Brexit.

"We need a good relationship with our European neighbours even if we accept the mechanism for that will not be the European Union."

He added: "If I was to get anything (from Theresa May) I might have expected it to be within education or BIS (business, innovation and skills), given that's what I've got a track record on as an MP.

"This opportunity is hugely exciting for me - it's an historic department and it's a privilege to be taking on this role at such an important time for the country."

Mr Walker will start work in the new role tomorrow at the Cabinet Office, which has created a makeshift temporary home for the new Brexit department until a permanent base can be established for it.

Mrs May's changes has also seen West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin moved from her role in the Treasury to become a junior defence minister.

Mrs Baldwin was Economic Secretary to the Treasury, but Mrs May has all-but cleared out the department after sacking former Chancellor George Osborne.

She said she was “honoured and excited to be serving as a defence minister”, where she will work underneath Defence Secretary Michael Fallon.

There is also a third key Worcestershire appointment, with Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier - a former investment banker - a junior minister in Liam Fox's new international trade department.

It means for the first time ever four of Worcestershire's six MPs hold positions in the Government all at once, with Bromsgrove's Sajid Javid Local Government Secretary.

COUNTRIES WILL BE ‘BEATING A PATH TO OUR DOOR’ FOR TRADE, SAYS GARNIER

MARK Garnier has spoken of his delight at becoming a junior minister after securing a vital role dealing with international trade.

The Wyre Forest MP will work with Liam Fox, who Theresa May made Cabinet Secretary for International Trade, as a minister in his new-look department.

It is the first promotion for Mr Garnier, who has made a name for himself in parliament on the Treasury Select Committee, since first being elected in 2010.

He said today: "Jim Carver (a UKIP MEP for the region) has already sent me a text and my response is 'your wish is my command'.

"I'm absolutely delighted, it's fantastic to be given such a role within such a positive, outward looking department.

"It's a hugely important department which will be looking to secure our new trading relationships, particularly with Europe, but also with any number of different countries.

"I haven't spoken with Liam Fox yet but I understand something like 20 countries have already expressed a desire to do deals with us.

"What we need is not a 'Norwegian model' or a 'Swiss model', we need a 'British model' that works for this country - I think people will be beating a door to us."

It comes as Theresa May revealed on the weekend how talks had already started with Australia over a trade deal, while Liam Fox has also kicked off early negotiations with China.

The Sunday Times has today revealed how Whitehall officials are understood to be exploring preliminary talks with 12 countries already, on the basis Britain will be out of the EU by January 1, 2019.

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